I-96 shooting spree victim: Lucky to be alive, was on way to World Series when hit

Monday, October 29, 2012

FOWLERVILLE, Mich. (AP) — A motorist who was wounded in the latest in a string of shootings in southeastern Michigan said he was lucky to survive — and sore.

Scott Arnold, 46, told the Detroit Free Press that the bullet just missed an artery and major nerves. He was shot Saturday while driving to the World Series in Detroit and was released from the hospital Sunday.

“It was pure luck. ... I feel very, very fortunate, and my kids do, too,” said Arnold, who lives in Delton, near Kalamazoo.

Police in a wide stretch of the state are looking for a man suspected in at least 24 shootings, including the one on Arnold. Saturday’s shooting on Interstate 96 in Fowlerville was the first that resulted in an injury, and authorities said it was connected to the earlier ones.

The Livingston County sheriff’s department said shots were fired earlier Saturday into another car, but that its two occupants weren’t injured. Police increased patrols along the roadway on Sunday. There were no new reports of shootings as of early Monday.

Arnold said he was alone in his Nissan Murano and didn’t see who fired the shot. He said heard a loud explosion that he thought was a tire blowout and then felt a pain in his side. He stopped and saw a bullet hole in the vehicle and blood.

He said doctors didn’t remove the bullet, which struck him in the buttocks. Authorities had said Saturday he was shot in the left hip.

“The bullet is lodged too deeply,” said Arnold, who watched the Detroit Tigers play the San Francisco Giants on a hospital room TV. “I’m going to keep the bullet for the rest of my life.”

Authorities have released a sketch of a suspect. Authorities said the gunman appears to be a man in his 30s.

“When you shoot at somebody, your intention is to kill them. That’s plain and simple,” Livingston County Sheriff Bob Bezotte. “His intention is pretty clear to me: He’s out there trying to kill people.”

Most of the shootings have happened near Interstate 96, though authorities said one occurred while a man was taking out his trash. In another incident, a woman said her car’s rear window was shattered. Ten of the shootings were in Wixom in Oakland County.

Saturday’s shootings were the first incidents since Oct. 18.

Police said Friday that tests on bullet fragments and casings determined that the same firearm was used in the string of shootings up to that point.